Cold War Culture: Media and the Arts, 1945-1990 [Paperback]

Richard Alan Schwartz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2000

For more than 40 years, the Cold War defined our values and identity as Americans. Its influence pervaded every aspect of American life and can be seen clearly in popular culture, the arts, and literature. This easy-to-use reference chronicles the important themes, genres, and individuals that helped shape the Cold War era. More than simply a catalog, it illustrates how social and cultural values are embodied, reproduced, and reinforced in both popular and "high" culture.

Topics include:

Books and writers: The Beat movement, spy novels, James Baldwin, Ayn Rand
Film: Dr. Strangelove, Walt Disney, Alfred Hitchcock, John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe, James Bond
Political events and social phenomena: Sputnik, the Korean and Vietnam Wars, bomb shelters, hippies
Television and radio: Quiz shows, sitcoms, Ed Sullivan, The Tonight Show, Father Knows Best
Theater, music, dance performance, sports, games, toys: Hair, Bob Dylan, Nadia Comaneci, The Crucible, GI Joe, and Barbie
and more.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

YA-A book that covers the various influences on American culture during the years 1945 to 1990. Schwartz organizes Cold War culture alphabetically within the following broad categories: art, cartoons, consumer goods, dance, film, games and toys, television and theater. Each of these categories has a broad general article as well as specific individual entries. For example, there is a long article on television that includes news, documentaries, dramas, debate shows, situation comedies, and more. Readers can then go to smaller entries on specific shows such as "Laugh-In." Those unfamiliar with the period must use the lengthier articles to access other material as the index is not comprehensive. Nonetheless, this reference source is easy to read and hard to put down as a browsing item. It will be particularly helpful to social-studies teachers looking to bring the era to life and those researching the Cold War.
Linda A. Vretos, West Springfield High School, Springfield, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

The end of the cold war has been the occasion for renewed study of that phenomenon. Thus, many will welcome this treatment of the media and the arts from the author of The Cold War Reference Guide: A General History and Annotated Chronology with Selected Biographies (McFarland, 1997). The work, according to its brief introduction, "discusses Cold War culture in the following broad categories: art, cartoons, consumer goods, dance, film, games and toys, language, literature, magazines, journalists, music, sports, television, and theatre" --each of which is treated in general articles of up to three pages in length. Other general articles include nuclear apocalypse and Red scare.

There are more than 1,500 alphabetically arranged entries for "works, personalities, movements and influences that constituted cold war culture from 1945^-1990." TV has entries ranging from Edward R. Murrow's See It Now to Saturday Night Live. Film is represented by entries such as Bridge over the River Kwai; DeMille, Cecil B.; and spy film spoofs. The narrative arts receive most attention. However, beat movement and black humor are present, as well as momism and new liberalism, to give some indication of the range. Although religion and Billy Graham receive some treatment, Fred Schwartz's Christian Anti-Communist Crusade does not warrant a separate entry, nor does John Henry Faulk, the blacklisted commentator. Some entries contain suggestions for further reading, which are fully cited in the bibliography that concludes the book.

Despite helpful cross-referencing, this work may frustrate some readers looking for a systematic study of the period. The volume's greatest value lies in its discussions of how specific aspects of American culture helped define and were defined by cold war attitudes. It would be useful as a supplemental source in public and undergraduate libraries. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 376 pages
• Publisher: Facts on File; 1 edition (April 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0816042640
• ISBN-13: 978-0816042647
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,217,611 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dig Non PC Pop Culture? Check out this Tome for a Beaucoup List, July 24, 2007

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Alan L. Wong (Inglewood, Ca United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cold War Culture: Media and the Arts, 1945-1990 (Paperback)

Hey you anticommunist right wing conspirators dig the biggest list of movies,books, t.v shows, scholars,and celebs of a bygone area when Red meant the Stalinist camp and not a Southern Republican state. I'm suprized this book has not found itself on a burning pyre at the latest San Francisco love-in.
Enjoy even Ayn Rand is listed Better dead than Red!